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The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District will end some vaccinations for children because a grant funding those vaccines lost some of its federal financial support.
The Federal Immunization Vaccines for Children Grant was reduced from $3 million to $2.5 million, according to a memo from City Manager Erik Walsh.
Walsh said the grant will not be able to cover the vaccine clinical operations.
"Metro Health will be examining alternatives to consider for continuing clinical operations," the memo read.
The grant was originally awarded in 2021, with an expiration date of middle of 2025. But the grant was prematurely terminated last month, which required Metro Health to terminate 23 temporary agency positions.
The vaccine services provided by Metro Health will end on June 30, explained Sonia Gonzales, Metro Health's public health administrator.
"The Department will continue to provide mobile vaccination pop ups with 45 City Temporary Positions that are funded through June 30, 2025, utilizing grant funds from Immunizations and Vaccines Program as authorized by the CDC," Gonzales explained.
The reduction in the grant also impacts five positions at Metro Health. Those workers were advised their positions are being eliminated on June 30.
The measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine is one of the many the clinic offers to the public. The ending of these vaccination services comes as Texas experiences the worst measles outbreak the state has seen in 30 years.
Just this week, the Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed more than 500 cases of measles since the outbreak began in late January.
Two children have died due to complications with the virus. Both of them were unvaccinated. A majority of the reported cases were in people who were unvaccinated or their status was unknown.
The outbreak is still isolated to West Texas, and Bexar County has not seen a confirmed case in connection to the outbreak, though the city was exposed to someone who tested positive during Valentine's Day weekend.
Health officials said that Bexar County's immunization rates are high, unlike West Texas where the immunization rates are extremely low.
